DELTA STATE POLYTECHNIC

P.M.B 003,
OTEFE OGHARA, DELTA-STATE, NIGERIA.

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE LABORATORY

TECHNOLOGY,
SCHOOL OF APPLIED SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
(BIOCHEMISTRY OPTION)

GROUP H ASSIGNMENT

ON
USE OF ENGLISH
(GNS 401)

COURSE LECTURER

JANUARY, 2024

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 GROUP H MEMBERS

S/N NAMES MAT NO SCORE

1 JACOB VICTORY 17449

2 CHARLES IRUOGHENE LENORA 17588

3 ABUAH JOYCE 18336

4 MADUBUIKE CHINYERE 17608

5 AGOGHENE ABIGAIL 19771

6 OTOMEWO FRANCA 20548

7 ISIOSIO LAURINA 17221

8 AITUFE MARVELOUS 19396

9 OKOSUMA JOY 17713

10 OZURUMBA MMESOMA 18405

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 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this assignment work was carried out by the aforementioned
persons in the department of Science Laboratory Technology, (Biochemistry
Option), School of Applied Sciences and Technology, Delta State Polytechnic,
Otefe-Oghara.

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 DEDICATION

This assignment work is dedicated to God almighty who is the giver of knowledge
and wisdom.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost my profound gratitude goes to God Almighty for the grace and
the strength he gave me during the course of this research work.

We also want to appreciate the effort and sacrifice of our amiable lecturer for her
support, teachings, words of wisdom and encouragement throughout the period of
her lecture classes.

Finally to beloved parent and well-wishers for their love, sacrifice, encouragement
and prayers.

May God bless you all!

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 QUESTIONS

A. List and explain the barriers of Effective Communication.

B. Enumerate and discuss the goals of Communication in an Organization.
C. Write shorts notes on the following:
- Kinetics
- Proxemics
- Chronemics
- Para-Language

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BARRIERS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

The failure in communication is caused by barriers between the sender and the
receiver. To make communication effective, it must be ensured that these barriers
are removed or overcomed. The barriers that interfere with the understanding of the
communication are of three kinds:

1. Semantic
2. Psychological and
3. Organizational.

SEMANTIC BARRIERS

Most difficulties in communication arise because the same word or symbol

signifies different things to different individuals. You may recall how Shiny
Abraham was disqualified and lost her gold medal, despite coming first by a very
wide margin in the 800 m race, at the Asian Games at Seoul (1986). She had
crossed the track at the place where she should not have done. According to her,
she mistook the symbol, i.e., the colour of the flag. In our country, the red flag
indicates danger but in South Korea, white flag is used for the same purpose.
Words, action or a feeling, can have several meanings. For example, abstract
words like merit, effectiveness or responsibility, can be interpreted differently by
different persons. Difficulty in understanding may arise even in the case of words
which have different contextual meanings in different regions/countries. To give
you an example, a problem arose in interpreting the meaning of the word ‘steps’.
In a training programme of health workers relating to family health in Jamaica, this
question was asked: “What are some of the steps that a mother should take to make
sure that her baby keeps healthy?” There was no response to this question because
the trainees were accustomed to only one meaning of the word ‘steps’ based on

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their experience; they just could not make any sense of the question. Semantic
difficulty also arises because of unfamiliarity with words, for example, a word of a
foreign language or a technical word.

An effective communication is one which uses words appropriate to the

environment and mental framework of the receiver. This ensures that
communication is grasped properly and implemented effectively (Rahman and
Slamatin, 2018)

PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS

Psychological barriers are the prime barriers in inter-personal communication. The

meaning that is ascribed to a message depends upon the emotional or
psychological status of both the parties concerned. As such, the psychological
barriers may be set up either by the receiver or the sender of the message. You
have already seen that the effectiveness of any communication depends upon the
perception of the right meaning of the message by the receiver. However, the
perception of meaning is influenced by the mental frame of the receiver at the time
the message is received. Emotions which dominate our mood at the time, e.g.,
anger, anxiety, fear, happiness, etc., will affect our interpretation of the message.
The phrases ‘viewing with coloured glasses’ or ‘seeing with jaundiced eyes’
explain vividly how our inner feelings may vitiate our perception of the message or
the situation. Post experience of the receiver in such situations would also lead to
the same effect. The same thing may happen when different individuals interpret
the same event or situation.

Let us consider the case of a lecturer watching a group of students resting and
gossiping on the just concluded 2022/2023 Second semester examination. How
will this situation be perceived?

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To the lecturer, who believes that students are basically lazy, the situation
communicates that they are playing truant with their studies, and, therefore, should
be disciplined.

To the lecturer who believes that his/her students are self-motivated and sincere,
the situation communicates that they are re-charging their batteries through
recreation and enjoyment.

You will, therefore, see that a particular kind of situation, event, happening or
words and symbols are capable of being interpreted differently by different people
depending on their psychological states. A receiver who is suspicious or hostile,
either as a consequence of his/her feeling of insecurity or because of his/her past
experience with the sender of the communication, is more likely to start ‘reading
between the lines’ and describe a distorted meaning to the message(Rahman and
Slamatin, 2018)

ORGANIZATIONAL BARRIERS

Organizations provide a formal framework through which communication is

designed to flow. The structuring of the flow itself tends to act as a barrier against
free flow of communication between persons and levels in the organization. Rules
may prescribe how communications are to move from one level to another in
upward or downward directions. Not only is there a possibility of delay in the
communication reaching its destination, but also there is every possibility of
communication getting distorted through the process of filtering. It has been found
that when information is channeled through different levels of the organization, it
alters as people interpreted facts differently. In an organizational setting, this can
be a very big problem since senior level executives have to depend on the
information and interpretations of their subordinates. A critical information that

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has lost its criticality because of the actions of the intervening levels may
jeopardize the position of the manager as well as the organization itself.

It has been observed that the upward communication is particularly subject to the
influence of filtering in large organizations. Upward communication serves
essentially two purposes in an organization. First, it helps in coordinating and
controlling the activities of the organization. Second, it enables the superior to
appraise the performance of his/her subordinates. While the former does not create
any problems, the latter has behavioural implications. It is human nature to show
one’s performance in a better light than what it actually is. This tendency of an
individual naturally brings about a filtering through conscious or unconscious
altering, withholding or interpreting facts to be transmitted upward.

GOALS OF COMMUNICATION IN AN ORGANIZATION

 Information Sharing
 Feedback
 Control
 Influence
 Problem Solving
 Decision-Making
 Gate keeping
 Change
 Group Building

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 Information Sharing: Various types of information are required to be
shared in an organization. These include policies, rules, changes and
developments in the organization, such as settlement with the union, major
changes, awards and rewards, etc (Robbins and Jones, 2004)
 Feedback: Feedback has to be given to the employees on their
achievements, to the departments on their performance; and to the
management on the fulfillment of goals and difficulties encountered. It helps
in taking corrective measures and making necessary adjustments. It can
motivate people for developing challenging and realistic plans.
 Control: The management information system (MIS) is well known as a
control mechanism used to ensure that various activities are being carried
out as per plans. Communication helps in ensuring such control as a
monitoring mechanism and directing different aspects for optimum results as
critical information reaches the appropriate level of people in the
organization.
 Influence: One purpose of communication is to influence people. This is
very clear in the case of communication form a trainer in a training group.
The higher the management level, the more is the influencing role of the
manager. The manager communicates to create a good climate, right
attitudes and congenial working relationships (Gibson et al; 2003).
 Problem Solving: Communication between the management and the union
on some issues (negotiation) is aimed at finding a solution to problems.
Many groups meetings are held to brainstorm alternative solutions for a
problem and to evolve acceptable solutions. Such communication can be in
small or in large groups.

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  Decision-Making: Communication helps a great deal in decision-making. A
more important role is played by the communication of alternative solutions
and the exchange of views on various matters.
 Gate keeping: Communication helps to build linkages of the organization
with the outside world. The organization can use its environment to increase
its effectiveness. It can also influence the Government, its clients, the
resource systems, etc. (Gibson et al; 2003).
 Change: The effectiveness of a change introduced in an organization
depends to a large extent, on the clarity and spontaneity of the
communication. Communication between the consultants and the managers,
between the managers and the employees, and amongst the employee helps
in knowing the difficulties in the planned change, and in taking corrective
action.
 Group Building: Communication helps in building relationships. Even
under conditions of severe conflict, good relations can be restored only if the
communication process is continued. If communication breaks down, the
group may disintegrate. Communication provides necessary lubrication for
proper functioning of a group. The communication of feelings, concerns, and
support is particularly important in this context (Robbins and Jones, 2004)

KINESICS

The word kinesics comes from the root word kinesis, which means “movement,”
and refers to the study of hand, arm, body, and face movements. Kinesics is the
study of human body motion. It includes such variables as facial expression, eye
movement, gestures, posture, and walking speed. Valuable communicator
information is contained in the look on your face, whether you stare or avert your
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gaze, whether your shoulders are straight or drooped, whether you lips are curved
in a smile or signal contempt with a sneer, and whether your gait suggests
eagerness or anxiety (Hecht and Ambady, 1999).

Face: The face is the main channel we use to decipher the feelings of others. Quite
simply, faces talk. The face is also the prime communicator of emotion. Our ability
to read the emotions depicted in facial expressions determines whether we will be
able to respond appropriately to others’ feelings (Gussenhoven, 2004).

Eyes: The Eyes. “Shifty eyes.” “Goo-goo eyes.” “The evil eye.” “Eye to eye.” Eye
behaviors are a key part of interpersonal communication, as we use our eyes to
establish, maintain, and terminate contact. As with all nonverbal cues, the
messages you send with your eyes may be interpreted in a variety of ways.

Gestures and Posture: The Body in Motion and at Rest. We move and stand in
distinctive ways—so distinctive that often others can identify us by our
characteristic walk or posture. The movements and alignment of our body
communicate. Although some of our body’s messages facilitate effective person-
to-person interaction, others—whether sent consciously or unconsciously—impede
it (Abercrombie, 1996).

PROXEMICS

Proxemics is the study of how space and distance are used to communicate. Our
use of space and distance also reveals how we feel about ourselves and what we
think of others. As with kinesics and paralinguistic, space and distance
communicate.

Generally, we use physical proximity and distance to signal either desire to

communicate or disinterest in communicating. The closer we stand, the greater the

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chances are that we like one another. Proximity or lack of it also indicates how
dominant or submissive we are in a relationship. The more dominant we feel, the
more likely we are to move closer to another; in contrast, the more submissive we
feel, the less likely we are to decrease our interaction distance. Perceptions of
friendliness or unfriendliness and extroversion or introversion, as well as our
privacy and social contact needs, are also reflected in our spatial relationships. As
we study how we use space and distance to communicate, we should keep in mind
that a gap may exist between the messages we intend to send using space and
distance and the messages that others actually receive and interpret (Abercrombie,
1996).

CHRONEMICS

Chronemics is the study of how humans use time to communicate. Some of us are
preoccupied with time, while others regularly waste it. Some of us are typically
early, while others are chronically late. Some of us approach life with a sense of
urgency, while others prefer a more leisurely pace. Some of us are early birds,
functioning best in the morning, while others, night owls, perform best at night.

Misunderstandings, miscalculations, and disagreements involving time can create

communication and relationship problems. What does it mean to be “on time”?
How is the concept of punctuality construed? To be “on time” for a job interview
may be interpreted differently from what it means to be “on time” for a cocktail
party. The latter usually allows more flexibility(Gussenhoven, 2004).

Our culture influences how we use and think about time. In some cultures people
live for today, but in others they are waiting for tomorrow. Thus, even the meaning
of the phrase “a long time” is influenced by how a culture’s members conceive of
time (Hecht and Ambady, 1999).

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PARA- LANGUAGE

Paralanguage is a form of nonverbal communication that allows people to add

layers of meaning to their spoken utterances through the manipulation of the
manner of speech, or the way they say things. The study of paralanguage is
Paralinguistic. Paralanguage refers to the conveyance of meaning through non-
lexical tokens (or non-words, such as "huh," "hmm," or "well") such as qualities of
prosody (or the rhythm, stress, and sound of speech) It’s not about what you say,
but how you say it.

Not all vocal signals beyond language belong to paralanguage. For example,
sneezing, yawning, coughing, and snoring are vocal signals that are usually
excluded from paralinguistics. These vocal signals are defined as "vocal reflexes"
because they are usually uncontrolled and physiologically determined. There are
many examples of paralanguage, and the ones discussed here are those that apply
to English (Gussenhoven, 2004).

- An audible gasp indicates surprise

- An audible sigh indicates frustration or listlessness
- The tokens "mm-hm" (to indicate agreement) or "mm-mm" (to indicate
disagreement)
- Emphasis of a single word to alter the meaning of an entire phrase
(emphasized token italicized): "I didn't say she took it" (meaning it was not
specified that "she" was the actor) vs. "I didn't say she took it" (meaning her
motives or actions are unclear)
- Pace of speech: Faster pace indicates excitement or nervousness; slower
pace indicates boredom or uncertainty

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- Pauses and hesitations that indicate uncertainty: Tokens sometimes called
hedges (such as "um," "uh," or "mm" that allow a speaker to stall) and
halting speech signal that a speaker does not know what they are talking
about
- Physical communicators that indicate the underlying meaning of an
utterance, such as a smile to indicate an association with positive emotions.

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 REFERENCES

Abercrombie, D. (1996) ‘Paralanguage’, British Journal of Disorders of

Communication, 3: 55-59.
Adler, R.B. and Elmhorst, J.M. (2002).Communicating at work. Boston: McGraw
Hill.

Beisler F, Scheeres H, & Pinner D. (1990).Communication skills. Australia: Pitman

Publishing.

Cooperrider, K. (2011) ‘Review of Pragmatics and nonverbal communication, by

T. Wharton’, Gesture, 11(1): 81-88.

Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich, J. M., & Donnelly, J. H. (2003). Organizations:

Structure, processes, behavior. Business Publications, Incorporated

Gussenhoven, C. (2004) the Phonology of Tone and Intonation. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Hecht, M. and Ambady, N. (1999) ‘Non-verbal communication and psychology:

past and future’, The New Jersey Journal of Communication, 7(2): 1-14.

Nöth, W. (1995). Handbook of semiotics. Indiana University Press.

Rahman, F., and Slamatin Letlora, P. (2018). Cultural Preservation: Rediscovering

the Endangered Oral Tradition of Maluku (A Case Study on Kapata of
Central Maluku). Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 9(2), 91.

Robbins, J. G., and Jones, B. S. (1974). Effective communication for today's

manager. Chain Store Age Books.

Smith R. C., and Turner, P. K. (1995). A social constructionist reconfiguration of

metaphor analysis. Communication Monographs, 62, 152–180

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